List of British monarchs


There have been 13 British monarchs since the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, which occurred on 1 May 1707 upon the commencement of the Acts of Union. The first British monarch was Anne, who reigned between 1707 and 1714; the current monarch is Charles III, who acceded to the throne in September 2022. Although the informal style of "King of Great Britain" had been in use since the personal union of England and Scotland on 24 March 1603 under James VI and I, the official title came into effect legislatively in 1707 and therefore British monarchs do not include monarchs who held both the title of Monarch of England and Monarch of Scotland at the same time.
On 1 January 1801, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This later became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland upon the secession of the Irish Free State in the 1920s. British monarchs have also held various other titles reflecting their claims outside of the United Kingdom, including King of Hanover, Emperor of India, and Head of the Commonwealth. The title of monarch also comes with various secondary titles for land within the United Kingdom, such as the Duchy of Lancaster.

Background

Before 1603, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were independent states with different monarchs. However, James VI of Scotland inherited the monarchy of England from his cousin Elizabeth I, meaning that the two independent countries shared a monarch in a personal union known as the Union of the Crowns. Between November 1606 and July 1607 unification between the two countries was discussed at Westminster. While the English Parliament agreed to certain concessions to the Scots, it refused union. In October 1604, James VI and I declared himself to be the 'King of Great Britain'. The style was used on coins, stamps, and elsewhere; however the Parliament of England did not allow the title to be used officially, nor did they consider him the King of a single unified country.
Anne ascended the throne on 8 March 1702 upon the death of her brother-in-law William III, becoming Queen of England and Queen of Scotland. In November that year, Anne began negotiations with the Parliament of Scotland about a possible union of the two countries, but by 1704 they had ended without a deal. In 1706, a new proposal was debated that involved the merger of Scotland and England into a new country called 'Great Britain'. A final version of the proposal was presented to Anne in July that year. In January and March 1707, the Treaty of Union was passed by the Scottish and English parliaments respectively, with the union beginning from May.
Despite having eighteen pregnancies, Anne did not produce an heir that survived her or to adulthood. Before union, England had passed the Act of Settlement 1701 which defined Anne's cousin Sophia of Hanover and her heirs as Anne's successor in England and Ireland and disqualified Catholics from becoming monarch. However, Scotland had passed its own law, the Act of Security 1704, which allowed its parliament to choose an heir upon Anne's death. On union, Great Britain adopted the English succession and the Act of Security was repealed. When Anne died in 1714, she was succeeded by George I, Sophia of Hanover's eldest son.

Statistics

The thirteen monarchs consist of ten kings and three queens. Only two monarchs were born outside of the United Kingdom; these were George I and George II, who were both born in Germany. All but two monarchs died in the United Kingdom: George I died while he was still King, during a trip to his birth place; Edward VIII died in Villa Windsor, Paris, while living in exile in France having abdicated over 35 years beforehand. The longest reigning monarch was Elizabeth II who reigned for 70 years and 214 days between 1952 and 2022; the shortest reigning monarch was Edward VIII, who reigned for 326 days between January and December 1936. Only eleven of the thirteen monarchs have been crowned as a monarch of Great Britain or the United Kingdom: Anne was crowned in 1702 before the Treaty of Union; and Edward VIII abdicated before he could be crowned.

Other titles

Between George I and William IV, all monarchs had the additional office of Elector of Hanover. Hanover was a separate kingdom with its own government and army. When Victoria acceded to the throne in 1837, she could not become the Queen of Hanover suo jure as it followed Salic law, meaning that it could only be inherited by men through the male-line. Instead, her uncle Ernest Augustus became King of Hanover.
As well as being the monarch of Great Britain or the United Kingdom, monarchs have held various other titles ex officio. On 1 May 1876, Victoria accepted the title of Empress of India from then-Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. Monarchs held this title until George VI issued a Royal Proclamation renouncing it on 22 June 1948, in line with India's independence from the United Kingdom. Since 1949, the monarch has instead been the ceremonial Head of the Commonwealth. The monarch also holds all titles that have been merged into the Crown, such as Duke of Lancaster, which has been a secondary title of the monarch since 1399, and Duke of Normandy, which has been a secondary title of the monarch since 1106.

List

Timeline

The timeline of each British monarch's reign:

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